Instructions

ZOOM IN by clicking on the page. A slider will appear, allowing you to adjust your zoom level. Return to the original size by clicking on the page again.

MOVE the page around when zoomed in by dragging it.

ADJUST the zoom using the slider on the top right.

ZOOM OUT by clicking on the zoomed-in page.

SEARCH by entering text in the search field and click on "In This Issue" or "All Issues" to search the current issue or the archive of back issues
respectively.

PRINT by clicking on thumbnails to select pages, and then press the
print button.

SHARE this publication and page.

ROTATE PAGE allows you to turn pages 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise.Click on the page to return to the original orientation. To zoom in on a rotated page, return the page to its original orientation, zoom in, and
then rotate it again.

CONTENTS displays a table of sections with thumbnails and descriptions.

ALL PAGES displays thumbnails of every page in the issue. Click on
a page to jump.

twitter.com/temponew • facebook/temponews • Email:temponews@comcast.net • Apr. 30 - May 6, 2015 • TEMPO News • Page 5
TEMPO of Manatee
• Rubonia • Samoset • Ellenton
• Bradenton • Palmetto • Tallevast
BY C.S. HOWARD
HELPING IN HARMONY: Making A Difference
Helping in Harmony mentors and children.
Helping in Harmony
is a group of women
determined to make a
difference in the com-
munity. They believe it
takes a village to raise
a child; their mission is
to be part of that village
and do whatever they
can to help inspire our
children to be the best
they can be. Helping
in Harmony (HIH) is
an organization formed
to help uplift the com-
munity through positive
and creative activities
focused on our youth;
they take their mission
seriously and are chang-
ing lives in the process.
“We acknowledge
the fact that the minor-
ity community has the
greatest struggle uplift-
ing one another because
of what we’ve been
taught,” said Shavonda
Griffin, a spokesperson
for the group. “Helping
in Harmony wants to
change that image and
help build strong, deter-
mined young ladies who
can serve as positive ex-
amples for others,” she
said. There are approxi-
mately 15 girls in the
program who are learn-
ing respect for one an-
other, for adults and any-
one they come in con-
tact with, Griffin said.
“A criteria of being
part of the group is that
the students must be
doing well in school,
have good behavior, be
respectful of others and
anyone they come in
contact with, and par-
ticipate in all group ac-
tivities,” she said. “The
young ladies are expect-
ed to show respect for
one another and for the
adults who are helping
them. We will not toler-
ate bullying in any way,
form or fashion. We
know that kids will have
conflicts with each other
and we will work and
help them in resolving
those issues. However,
if there is an ongoing
problem with a child,
we will address it with
the parent and determine
if we can move past it.”
HIH has high expec-
tations for the youth
not only during group
hours, but also at home,
school, church and in the
community. “This is be-
cause our goal is to have
them represent positive
leadership throughout
our community, and we
will not condone bad
behavior,” Griffin said.
The group meets ev-
ery Wednesday from
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“We work with the kids
teaching them differ-
ent forms of expression
through a variety of ac-
tivities, such as elegant
dance in the form of
praise and worship, bal-
let, step and hip-hop but
without the booty shak-
ing,” Griffin said. “We
want our girls to know
they have more to offer
than their hips and their
thighs.” They also teach
poetry, music, history
and performing skits and
are currently working
on their first play writ-
ten by Griffin. There is
also a community piece
as well for the group --
they have adopted roads
in the community and
have done community
cleanup activities. The
group has requests for
boys to become part of
the program so they are
in the process of accept-
ing and working with
our young boys as well.
Fun activities are also
planned by the group.
“We know that these are
children we are working
with so we do have many
fun ventures planned for
them,” Griffin said. A
mother-daughter picnic
is planned for Saturday,
May 2nd which will be
held at Riverwalk Park
in Bradenton from 1:00
to 4:00 p.m. This event
is for mothers to spend
special quality time with
their daughters. The
girls will pack and serve
lunch to their mothers
–
picnic-style. Next, a
father-son mentor day
will be held on Tuesday,
June 9th from 1:00 to
6:00 p.m., giving fathers
an opportunity to spend
quality time fishing and
doing other fun activities
with their sons. On Sat-
urday, June 13th, a fa-
ther-daughter dinner will
be held at Red Lobster in
Bradenton at 6:30 p.m.
The fathers will pick up
their daughters and treat
them to dinner, showing
them the proper way for
a man to treat a lady,
according to Griffin.
“These are our chil-
dren and we want them
to exceed greatly in
life,” Griffin said. “Our
youth today are missing
a lot of substance, so I
believe it is our obliga-
tion and responsibility to
help restore what’s miss-
ing. It will take all of us
working as team to help
build something great
for our beautiful black
Kings and Queens.”
For more information
about Helping in Harmo-
ny and how you can help,
please contact Shavonda
Griffin at 941-225-9778.